Princess of Prophecy II: Kalara's Secret
by Aria Saeryen
Summary: After the fall of Faerieland, Saeryennan receives an unexpected visitor. This encounter leads her to learn secrets about the history of her mother and of her kingdom. It is up to her to once again save Altador from the Faerie who truly caused the Faeries' Ruin. Published in the Neopian Times.
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

_Winter is always bitter, but it's less so in Altador, even though the winds are fierce tonight. She doesn't bother to wrap her coat around herself. The winds are only pleasantly cool; Altador has only fallen to an inch of snow, and none more falls from the starry sky._

_Her boots make tracks leading to the palace. She knocks on the door._

_The Queen of Altador answers._

_She looks into the eyes of the Green Wocky she knows so well. The Queen still looks at her kindly. Surely she cannot know of the great plight that has happened. Either that, or it simply doesn't matter to Her Majesty, which she finds a bit hard to believe._

_In fact, the Queen has heard, but the Faerie Queen told her what had to be done. Her Majesty is very happy to see this Neopet, no matter what her past. She has always been happy to see her._

_With a smile, the Queen lets her in._

_Here is where the story begins…_

* * *

I suppose you should already know my name by now. I have already told you one story of my life as a prophetic princess, but as Princess of Altador neither me nor my mother Kalara are well known. My name is Saeryennan, and I am a Royal Cybunny. My father is King Altador, and my mother is a beautiful Green Wocky with long red curls.

That is all the family I thought I had—until a few days ago, when she came to Altador.

It was same day Nyvenne, the Air Faerie who gifted me with prophetic visions, returned from her petrified state. The months without my protector had been quite unsettling. I had no idea whether she was all right, and I had no prediction as to when she would come back. And when Faerieland fell, my heart nearly shattered as by then I was certain I would never see her again. I was also quite worried that it had landed on my father, who had tried to find out who was behind this dread calamity.

But all my fears turned out in vain, for both my dear father and my favorite Faerie, along with Psellia and Siyana, returned unharmed.

I remember waking up and looking outside at the light of Altador. It was beautiful, and for that one moment my mind was oblivious to the predicament that threatened the whole of Neopia. Every day, it seemed things were as they were before, and my father would be laughing in the dining hall, and my mother smiling.

She hadn't smiled all that time when he was away. She had been unhappy, pacing about the palace and seeking no company aside from myself and my Faerie Snowbunny Calissa. I had been unhappy. My mother and Calissa were the only family I had left. She had tried her best to rule in my father's absence, but she made her decrees only to her ladies-in-waiting. They were to tell the parliament what was to be done.

In the meantime, she'd been encouraging me to not be so sad, but how could I help it? I was worse off than she was. Most of the days found me shut up in my room or in my parents' room, staring at my father's picture. And I would often think of Nyvenne. I would try to dream of her, but no one can truly be in control of their dreams. The whole kingdom seemed sad. Even the sun would not shine as bright. Only Calissa was truly content, fluttering around the vast palace.

But on that fateful day, before I could remember our sorrowful situation, I caught sight of a figure in the distance, flying toward my window. Interested, I immediately got up and looked to see what it was.

"Nyvenne!"

I flung the window open so as to let the Air Faerie in.

"Saeryennan!" she said.

I ran into her arms. "I missed you!"

"Your father's here as well," the Faerie said.

Immediately I got dressed and made my way to the entrance hall. My mother was there, finally looking quite pleased. My father made his way in, followed by two more Faeries.

Overjoyed, I gave my father a big hug and did the same with Siyana and Psellia.

"Saeryennan!"

My father laughed jubilantly as he picked me up and whirled me around. Then he embraced me.

"Oh, my beautiful little princess! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Kalara?"

I turned at the sound of the voice. It was not a voice I knew at all.

Atop the stairs going to the entrance hall, I saw a Speckled Xweetok. She looked as though she was about to sigh.

"Who…is she?"

My mother turned and looked at me sadly.

"Come this way," she said. I held her hand and we walked to a side chamber. She closed the door behind us.

"Sit down," she said. I did, and so did she.

"The Xweetok's name is Alyxandra," my mother explained. "She cast the spell that petrified the Faeries."

_What?!_

"No!" I screamed. I stood up and slammed my right foot into the ground. "I am NOT living in the same house as…ugh!"

"Saery, wait!" my mother called, but I wouldn't hear anything of it. I stomped up the stairs into my room and slammed the door.

"Saery…"

My mother's voice came through the door. I sat on the green canopy bed and crossed my arms.

"Saery, let's talk about this—"

"NO!" I screamed through the door at my mother. "I do NOT want to talk! Do you really hate Nyvenne THAT MUCH?!"

I heard her footsteps echo through the hall. I guess she didn't want to talk right then if I was going to act this way.

No sooner had she done so when the family portrait on my wall I was staring at began to look fuzzy. Calissa fluttered over to my side in a blur. I knew what was happening. I was about to have a prophetic vision.

* * *

I found myself in a strange place. It was a lot warmer than it usually was inside, and the walls were a glowing red color. It was most definitely a palace of some sort, but there were torches everywhere, and figures of Fire Faeries with real wings of flame stood guard in front of every door leading out of this long hallway.

Then I saw Alyxandra.

She was younger than she had been when I'd seen her on the stairs. She looked about fourteen or so, and she didn't seem to be in good condition. Her only clothing was an orange rag, and her teal hair was certainly a mess.

At the end of the hall, two gigantic double doors rolled open. A figure stepped through them. I couldn't quite make out her features, but she was definitely a Faerie.

"Saeryennan?"

My eyes fluttered open. I was lying sprawled on my bed, and Nyvenne was sitting beside me.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

I told her everything—that there was a very wicked Xweetok in the palace for no reason that I could think of, that I was so afraid my guardian Faerie would be petrified all over again, that I was afraid for my father, my mother, Psellia, Siyana, and for all of Altador.

"It will be just fine," Nyvenne reassured me. "Xandra's powers over us are no more."

"I had a vision—"

Nyvenne looked interested. She could always interpret my prophecies.

"—with her in it. She was in a Fire Faerie's castle. And she was only fourteen years old."

"So you're telling me…you had a vision of events that have happened before?"

"Yes…"

"I…I've never heard of such a thing before. Even the most talented of prophets haven't seen into the past."

If Nyvenne could not explain such a thing, then who could? I didn't know where to turn. And then it hit me—my mother seemed to be the one who'd invited this "Xandra" to the palace. She might know something.

"Saery?" she said as I entered the dining hall, where she sat next to my father.

"Mother," I said, "I had a vision of Alyxandra. I saw her as a fourteen-year-old girl in a Fire Faerie's castle."

"Oh Saeryennan, you were probably just dreaming," my father said.

I wasn't so sure. My dreams were always either prophetic or a memory.

"Yeah…" my mother said. "Just a-a dream…"

"Kalara?"

I turned and saw Xandra.

"_You_!" I snarled.

"Your…Highness?"

"I don't know who you think you are! Why in Fyora's name did you think you could get away with petrifying all the Faeries?! It's all your fault! You broke my mother's heart! And mine too! I thought I would never see Nyvenne, Psellia or Siyana again! So why, may I ask, did you think you had any business showing your face in Altador?!"

She was about to say something when her face turned fuzzier than usual. I began to lose my footing. The last thing I remember before my next vision was that she looked a bit concerned. Odd, I thought, for someone of her twisted character.

* * *

A grand house was burning. I had no idea at all where it could be, but when I looked up and saw how much the stars shown, there was no mistake that I was in Altador. This building was not my palace, though, and I was quite relieved about that.

Then I looked over the balcony I was standing on into a garden. There was a circle of flames and my mother was caught in the middle of it! Only she wasn't nearly old enough to be my mother yet. She looked about thirteen.

"Kaly!" I heard a girl cry out. I looked down to see Xandra, here at eleven, running out of the door to the garden. She fired a bolt of green light at some of the flames near my mother. They vanished. I saw my mother run into the arms of a Green Xweetok, who seemed very relieved that she was safe.

Then I heard the faint laughter of a woman. As it got louder, I saw the figure of a Faerie, her face and whole body hidden by fire, fly closer. Had she done this?

She then picked up Xandra and flew off into the night.

"NO!" screamed my mother and the Green Xweetok together.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself resting in my mother's arms. I guess she caught me or something. Xandra was still there.

"You…" I said to her. "You saved my mother. You didn't have to, but you did. Why?"

My mother sighed.

"Alyxandra saved me…because…_she is my sister_."


	2. Chapter 2

"You're—"

I couldn't believe it. For a second, I _wouldn't_ believe it. Her, my mother's sister?

"But…how?"

"Kalara!" my father said. "Is this true?"

He didn't know either! In fact, I wasn't sure if any citizen of Altador had ever known that their Queen had a sister.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.

My mother's face turned sad. The smallest bead of a tear formed in the corner of her eye.

"Alyxandra was…taken from me at a young age," she began. "The Faerie…she was horrible. She tricked us…all of us…and then she took my sister…"

A Faerie? The figure in my visions!

"Before she came to us, I was training as an archer and Xandra as a mage. Our mother, Katryca, was—is—quite rich, and she acquired Faerie blessings for the both of us when we were born. I got intellect and precision, something I seem to have lost…Xandra got the gift of magic…oh, I can't say her name, I just can't…she's still out there somewhere…"

Before I had a chance to ask who it was that had caused my mother such grief, my father whisked me away to room full of maps.

He took a scroll from the shelf and laid it out on the table.

What I saw before me was a map of Altador—except much more rural. In the outermost part, it was dotted with random houses, but nearer to the palace in the center there were grander places, almost like miniature palaces.

I looked at the bottom of the map. It said "Kingdom of Miarra."

"Miarra," my father said, "was—"

That was all I heard him say, for only a moment after, his face blurred in front of me. Soon, I could no longer see it.

My father was in warrior's armor, running into a place ravaged by flames. Behind him was a Faerie. She, too, was gilded in armor. When I looked closer, I saw the Betrayer. "The Darkest Faerie," some call her.

Opposite them, I spied another Faerie—a Fire Faerie. She wore a queenly gown, a crown of ruby laurels, and her hair was in braids. I thought her pretty until I saw the look on her face. It was one of absolute malice. And she was _smiling_.

Was this the Faerie who'd made off with Xandra? If so, I could kind of see where she was coming from. Already I didn't like the look of this one.

* * *

When my eyes shot open it was the middle of the night. I was in my bedroom.

Gingerly, I opened the door to see if anyone was still awake. No one was. Even Nyvenne, who had frequented the palace (occasionally it was a surprise) before the Faerie Festival disaster, was nowhere in sight. Perfect.

As quietly as I could, I tiptoed to the palace library with a candle in my hand. Taking a quick look through the small window on the door, I didn't see a soul.

I walked into the library and started searching for a book on a kingdom called "Miarra." No place by that name existed in Neopia, or so I thought…

I finally caught sight of what I was looking for: _The Complete History of Altador_. I set the candle on a small table beside one of the chairs, which I then plopped into and started reading.

_Chapter 4: Miarra_

_The land upon which our Kingdom of Light now stands was once under the rule of a lovely Fire Faerie name Miarra. Queen Miarra was known for her benevolence and for the magical gifts she gave the children of her kingdom. Many of the Neopets living in her land became powerful mages or warriors. Unfortunately for her, her daughter, who many called "spoiled and spiteful", had such a strong hunger for power that she overthrew her mother. One Scorchio said that "the whole palace had become a piece of the sun in the way that it would never stop burning." Queen Miarra was never seen again after that._

_When our Twelve Heroes had teamed up together, they came upon Miarra, which was by now a wasteland under the rule of Queen–_

But before I could get this horrid Faerie's name, my book was slammed shut. I looked up to see a pair of sea-green eyes before I saw the sighing face of Xandra.

I froze on the spot. I knew she was pretty powerful, and I was scared.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I…I just—"

Wait a minute.

"I think the real question is, why are _you_ sneaking around the palace in the middle of the night?!"

Xandra sighed again.

"It's got absolutely nothing to do with you, so don't concern yourself," she replied.

She took my hand and we walked back to my room. As soon as I could I let go of her. I slammed my door in her face before plopping back down onto my bed.

I began to ponder things. Who was this mysterious Fire Faerie? And just how much was she connected to Xandra? One thing was for certain: my experience with Faeries was a little warped as well. I knew Psellia and Siyana; they were my friends, but when I'd first seen Nyvenne in a dream I hadn't known what to make of her. All I'd known was some Faerie was telling me she had "gifted" me with prophetic visions and that I absolutely had to be hero due to "fate" and "the path" and a bunch of related insanity. Over the years I had grown to resent her for her messing with my mind. I had visions and this "hero" destiny when I didn't want it. At all. There had even been one point when I'd downright disliked her altogether, a concept which was incredibly tough to grasp nowadays. And let's not forget Alilire, a particularly malicious Air Faerie who had posed as Psellia, pushed me into the ocean, made me highly distrust Nyvenne and kidnapped both me and my mother—all for the purpose of seizing Altador.

But this…this Fire Faerie seemed to be, if anything, worse. I remembered my first vision of Xandra. She'd looked quite frightened. How long had she been a captive? Years? Possibly…until she was no longer a child? If I had had to endure most of my childhood with a Faerie like that, I would probably be hiding out in some remote forest or on some distant island trying to keep from going completely out of my mind.

And that, I realized, is exactly what Xandra did…or at least tried to do before something else happened…

All this thinking soon tired me out as my eyelids began to droop…

I ran into my parents' room with them and Xandra close behind me. As soon as they were all inside, I closed and locked the door. I then pushed a chair up against it, but I knew it was no use.

After a few moments the chair was ablaze as well as the door. Soon they both disintegrated into ashes, and the Fire Faerie from my visions stepped through the archway where the door had once been.

She smiled an evil smile and sent a bolt of fire at Xandra—laughing. I screamed.

My scream woke me up. What a horrid dream—or was it? Oh no…

"Saeryennan!"

Nyvenne materialized before me.

"What happened?" she asked.

I told her. She sat down next to me and and lowered her face into her hand and sighed.

"I should've known she wouldn't stay away for so long…and now that Xandra's back she's pretty traceable. Poor girl must've got her hopes up that she was gone for good after the crash…but with someone as powerful as Queen Katriana, that just isn't at all likely. In fact, I would go so far as to say impossible…"

I felt oddly and uncomfortably warm, and a lump formed in my throat. Nyvenne had just told me that the maniac was looking for us.

"Isn't there…anything you can do at all?" I asked, not expecting any kind of good answer.

Just as I thought, the only news I got was bleak. Nyvenne was just a prophecy Faerie. She could only tell one's fortune along with the normal manipulation of the winds she had, which could fend off a thief, but she couldn't do a thing against Katriana. If anything, she would be making her all the more powerful.

With a great feeling of fear in my heart, I made my way down the stairs. Calissa, sweet, innocent, lucky ignorant Calissa, was sliding down the banister and seemed much happier than I.

I made my way into a sitting room, where my parents and Xandra were sitting and talking. It didn't matter what about. I had to warn them.

"Mother," I said, "I had a vision about Queen Katriana. She was in our palace and she attacked Xandra."

I saw Xandra's eyes grow bigger. Immediately she stood up, made her way over to my mother and grasped her shoulders.

"Kalara…" she said in a half-insane voice. "She is coming for me…she is returning to her kingdom!"


	3. Chapter 3

_This was Miarra. Glorious Miarra, and it had all been hers…until some Lupe just decided to butt in and take it from her. Katriana—no, _Queen_ Katriana couldn't even remember just how the stupid Lupe and his comrades had managed to banish her to the mountains that bordered Miarra and Shenkuu from the lands of Meridell and Brightvale. Well, she sort of could. She mostly had that quite literal Dark Faerie, Princess Sakura, to thank for it. And only she had gotten her comeuppance—last Katriana heard Princess Fyora had sent her older sister to the bottom of the ocean. And she was a statue. But the other eleven—oh joy and happy day, we've got Miarra! And while we're at it, why don't we rename it after our super brave Lupe leader guy! Let's call it Altador, and forget the true queen! Grrrrr. And that Xweetok…Aliana, was that her name? Whatever, wasn't like it mattered. Katriana was going to have her vengeance…no matter who tried to stop her._

* * *

For the rest of the day, I had an uneasy feeling. I would often glance outside the window to see if the sky had turned red or if anything was on fire, but it was just as sunny as before. Things were just great.

Of course, I knew that it would not last forever. Katriana was coming, and she was going to wreak havoc on my beloved Altador.

The whole palace seemed frightened. Even Calissa would occasionally twitch for no reason. My father was repeatedly calling for his guards to make sure the city was safe, my mother was always reading history in the library, hoping to learn as much about Katriana as possible, and Xandra paced. She paced about the palace as if she didn't care at all where she was going. Whenever I walked about to ease my tension, I would run into her somewhere. She would look quite frightened and then try to force a smile at me. She'd then pat me on the shoulder and walk on.

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to know. The next time I saw Xandra I ran up to her and asked her to sit down next to me, which she did.

"Xandra," I said, "tell me about Katriana."

Xandra slid off the bench and kneeled on the floor. Her face changed; tears were flooding from those sea-green eyes of hers. I had never really noticed how beautiful her eyes were. It was as if I was seeing who she really was for the first time. She really wasn't what she seemed.

She finally spoke.

"K…Katriana took me from my mother's home. She…snuck up on us, on our whole family. When Queen Miarra disappeared, we suddenly got this housekeeper…she was a Brown Wocky and her name was M-Mirana…she insulted me and your mother whenever our mother wasn't looking…at night there would be an orange glow around her door. I was afraid of it.

"Then one day…she revealed her true colors. She wasn't a Wocky, she was our new Queen, Katriana, in disguise. She set our house on fire. I had time to save Kalara but I couldn't escape myself…she petnapped me…took me to her castle. I was taught a lot of her powers. She taught me how to shapeshift and how to teleport and shoot great sparks from my hands. But she wanted to me to use my new power to aid with her tyranny. I couldn't, so she forced me to. She took control of my mind and made me do all these horrible things…

"When your father came, Katriana let me go. She didn't want him to know what she was doing. I ran away. I couldn't go back there. The Faerie Queen Evanna found me, and I stayed with her and her daughter Fyora. I was there when Fyora became Faerie Queen. Her sister, Queen Evanna's firstborn, was a member of your father's council…But Katriana found me. She entered my dreams and she possessed me again. I knew the only way to be free of her was to get rid of her in some way, but I didn't know how…then I found this spell…"

And that was the beginning of what I knew. All the Faeries had been turned to stone, but it seemed that not even that could stop Katriana. She'd possessed Xandra one last time, forcing her to attack Castle Nox. And that was the last straw for Xandra—her sanity was broken by Katriana.

I looked at her again. It was the first time I had ever seen her cry.

"I wanted to be strong," she said. "I held in all my…my tears with magic, just to shield myself from her influence. I didn't look in mirror all that time…that spell…"

I understood. Holding all her tears in must have fogged up her pretty eyes until they looked very dark.

I put my arms around her. I couldn't help myself. The poor Xweetok. What a horrible life…and to think that I'd snapped at her in anger when in reality, she'd been an innocent victim of circumstance. The one I really hated now was Katriana. I wanted to see her as a statue at the bottom of the sea, just like the Betrayer.

Just then I heard my father's voice. He was calling for his guards to defend Altador. I could only guess that Katriana had been sighted in the city.

Xandra stood up and grabbed my waist. She hurried me into my room saying "Quickly! Quickly!" in a frantic whisper.

Once we were in my room, Xandra began to cast some sort of spell. The wall opened to the left of my bed, revealing a secret passage!

Xandra pushed me in.

"Stay here," she ordered. "I'm going to get your mother." And the passage door closed as she scampered out.

I shivered. It was dark and damp in the passage. The only light came from torches. As far as I could tell, the walls were made of brown bricks. I felt quite lost…

Suddenly, I saw a light in the distance. It glowed orange in color and it made me feel safe. I sighed and sat down against the cold wall.

But…what was this? Why was this light…coming toward me? And why was it flickering as though it was a bunch of…flames! A fire was headed my way…or was it? From what I remembered, fire wasn't at all shaped like a pair of wings…

That was when I knew Katriana had found me. As fast as I could I picked up my skirts and ran. I could feel the heat of her angry fire as she came closer. I heard the sinister fluttering of her wings, and suddenly I felt a very hot but delicate hand grab my shoulder.

I turned and looked up into the face of the Fire Faerie. She wore her bright orange hair in braids that reached her waist. Her face was pale, and her eyes…they were not like Xandra's eyes at all. They were completely black, with groups of flames where pupils should have been. This Faerie had no compassion at all.

I looked at her with utter disgust and horror that someone could do such a thing to an innocent Neopet like Xandra. I remembered what she had said about her own eyes looking black, and with that thought, a single tear streamed down my cheek.

"Listen," I said angrily as more tears formed; some for Xandra and some from a combination of fear and terrible anger. "I know what you did to Xandra. Anyone like that is no friend to me, or to Altador. I wish you—"

Katriana just laughed.

"You really think that you, a helpless little Cybunny, can defeat the greatest of all Faeries?!" She spoke with pride when she referred to herself in that way. "_I_ am the rightful Queen of this land. You are no princess. Your father stole my Miarra from me. That wretched Lupe deserves no noble title at all. He is a thief, and you are no one."

She pushed me. I fell to the ground and slid across it.

"You were no Queen," I said. "You were a tyrant. My father wouldn't have had to come if you hadn't overthrown your own mother, who loved you above all things! She gave you everything, and you repaid her with…hatred!"

Katriana laughed again. It was a dark sound that mocked the very essence of love itself.

"My mother was…convenient. From the very beginning I was the queen, and she was quite happy to be my servant. She let me rule the whole place until one day when a strange Earth Faerie and Light Faerie appeared on my doorstep. They tried to teach me. As if! I'd had enough of this betrayal, so I acted. Quickly."

What kind of a warped view of the world did she have?! Her own mother…"convenient"!

"I think your mother realized she had to knock some common sense into you," I snarled, standing back up.

"Honey, 'common sense' is one of those mythical aspects that I was smart enough not to fall for. And I think that's enough chitchat, don't you?"

She fired a spark at me that sent me hurling into the wall. I fell to the floor in pain.

"I need to send a message to your worthless father and to that idiot Xweetok. You're pretty strong. I'm sure that possessing you would benefit us both…it'll help me reclaim Miarra, and you'll get all the power in the world. What do you say?"

I didn't believe she would truly give me a choice. I screamed. Even if it cost me my voice, it would be worth getting out of here.


	4. Chapter 4

My scream had hurt my ears so badly that they were ringing, and my eyes were only half open. Even so, I could see Katriana standing over me as clear as day. She was chanting something. I closed my eyes tightly. This was it—just like Xandra, I was going to become Katriana's tool. And I would probably end up insane because of it.

Just then, I saw a green light so bright that I opened my eyes in shock, only to close them again since I was sure I would go blind. I heard Katriana scream, and then I felt a furry hand grab mine and pull me up.

"Saeryennan…"

It was Xandra's voice. Before I knew it, I was pulled into her embrace. I opened my eyes. Katriana was pulling herself up off the floor. She glared at Xandra.

"You…" she said. "You…Xweetok…!"

"RUN!" my mother yelled. She grabbed one of Xandra's hands and I grabbed Xandra's other hand. My mother ran out of the passages.

My father was waiting for us in my room.

"Saeryennan, Kalara, go!" he said, drawing his sword. "I'll handle this situation!"

I ran with Xandra and my mother close behind me. Soon, I heard another pair of footsteps. I looked back to find that it was my father, without a sword. We ran into my parents' room. My prophecy was coming true.

"You think you can escape me?" Katriana cackled as I bolted the door and pushed a chair against it. Just as predicted, the Faerie's fire incinerated both the door and the chair. When she walked in, she looked at Xandra for a few seconds before hurling a bolt of fire at her—while laughing with utter malevolence.

Xandra was faster than Katriana; she quickly thrust her hand out and somehow reflected the fire attack back at the Faerie, who was, of course, completely unscathed by her own magic.

"Get out," she said.

"Um…let me think…" Katriana said. "NO. None of this would've happened if you had cooperated with me, Xweetok. That 'heroic' Lupe—"

"I have a name. It's Alyxandra. Now stay…away…from my family!" She shot two sparks at Katriana. The first one merely bounced off of her, but the second one hit her—hard. She fell to the ground, apparently weakened, but not enough. Her eyes were still blazing with vengeance.

"Out!" Xandra yelled as she ushered us past the Faerie who was slowly pulling herself up.

No sooner had I escaped then I felt a warm wind pick me up. I looked around and saw that my parents and Xandra were also floating.

"Nyvenne!" I cried with joy.

We landed in the observatory of the Hall of Heroes. The Air Faerie smiled warmly at me.

"I have to ask you something," I said to her. "Why did your sister try to take over Altador a few months ago?"

Nyvenne sighed. Alilire had indeed been her sister. Of course, I could find no reason that she would want to seize Altador…unless…

"She was working for Katriana, wasn't she?"

Nyvenne sighed again.

"I cannot be sure. My best guess is that she was just going to hold the kingdom over until Katriana awakened, then hand it over. But on the other hand…maybe not."

Wait a minute…_awakened_?

"Katriana was already petrified when Xandra cast her spell," I realized. "She stole that mirror thing from…whoever captured her! Which means using the same spell set her free! That's why she was able to possess Xandra again."

"Your father did manage to banish Katriana to the Border Mountains, which is, perhaps not coincidentally, where my sister resided," Nyvenne replied. "But he couldn't have done it without a Faerie's help. And the only Faerie working for him then was S—the Darkest Faerie. She sealed Katriana away. Of course…Katriana is still very powerful…which means she would've been able to hack into Xandra's mind when she was sleeping…"

"People of Altador!"

The cry rang out from the highest tower of Altador Palace. Looking out the window I could see Katriana's figure half-standing on the window ledge, shouting out her insanity for all of Altador to hear.

"I am your true queen," the wicked voice continued. "I was forced off of my throne by the Lupe you know as 'King' Altador…"

I watched her fly closer to the observatory. I gasped, but fortunately she took no notice of us and landed on the porch of the Hall of Heroes, where frightened citizens gathered around her.

"He came to my land and ruthlessly invaded it. He took control of the land of Miarra, named for my dear mother, and purged it of her legacy. He doesn't even acknowledge that Faeries once ruled this kingdom anymore. There never was a Miarra."

What a liar! She didn't respect her mother at all.

"My name is Katriana Miarra, and I stand here ready to regain my rightful place as your queen…"

No!

As quickly as I could, I ran down the stairs and out the door. Within seconds I stood facing the horrible creature.

I stepped in front of her.

"Listen!" I shouted. "This Faerie isn't telling the truth! She stole the throne of Miarra from her mother and ruled tyrannically—"

Before I could say another word, I felt a hot spark hit me in the back. The world turned dark. I must've lost consciousness before I hit the ground.

* * *

I opened my eyes wearily. I was lying on a perfectly flat rock in the famous Perfectly Flat Rock Quarry.

"Hey! Princess!"

I sat up and turned to see a small Starry Ogrin standing beside me. He looked like he was about seven.

I stood up. "Are you okay, little one?"

"No one's okay!" the Ogrin wailed. "The bad Faerie made a force field over Altador so no one can get out, and she trapped the King and Queen inside a crystal!"

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll get that bad Faerie to go away. Where are your parents?"

"They ran away right before the force field was created. Some giant Fire Yooyu was about to grab me when this Xweetok made it disappear. Green lightning came out of her hands…"

"Where is the Xweetok now?!"

"She and I escaped and hid here. She found you on the Hall of Heroes porch and brought you here—oh, here she comes right now."

Xandra emerged from what looked like some sort of cave with a perfectly flat roof.

"Saeryennan!" she cried. "You're awake!"

Before I could react, she ran right up to me and hugged me tightly.

"Oh, Xandra…did you just hear what happened?" I said, breaking her embrace.

She sighed. It was perhaps the thousandth sigh I'd heard since she came to us.

"We have to save them…" she said. "But I don't know how we're going to best Katriana. Only a very powerful Faerie can bring her down.

A Faerie…Nyvenne? No, she wasn't too powerful. Alilire had been powerful, but she'd been evil and might've worked for Katriana.

Just then, Xandra's eyes lit up.

"I know just who we should go to!"

We didn't have to walk very far. The Faerie we were meeting apparently lived in the forest that surrounded the quarry, which was lucky, since we were stuck in Altador.

When we had ventured deep into the forest, Xandra actually began [i]singing[/i].

"Oh, Caylin!"

Suddenly, an Earth Faerie materialized right in front of us. She wore her light brown hair in a ponytail that reached her waist. Her green clothes consisted of a short skirt pleated like a warrior's, and her shirt had very short sleeves. She carried a bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows on her back.

"You must be Saeryennan," she said. "My name is Caylin, and I taught your mother when she was very young. I also taught her little sist—oh my!"

She had just noticed that Xandra was here.

"Alyxandra, thank goodness!" she said. "After Fyora became Queen and I left to search for Queen Miarra, I worried. Calphurnia didn't know about—"

"Katriana." I said. "She's here, and she's taking over. We need your help."

Caylin put her free hand up in the air, and the Ogrin disappeared. She assured us that he was now with his parents, safe and sound. She then took a fallen twig and magically crafted it into a sword. She said it had powerful earth magic and handed it to me.

The Faerie raised her hand one more time, and we were instantly transported to Altador Palace.

The palace was so different from what I had known. It wasn't bright and alive anymore. The place was empty, and the portraits of me and my parents along the throne room walls had all been torn. There was even now a painting of Xandra, and that one had been defaced. Someone had covered her eyes with a thick line of black paint and burned the word "vengeance" in big letters near the bottom.

"Come on," Caylin whispered as we crept up the stairs.

I wanted to find my parents as quickly as I could, so when Xandra and Caylin were not looking, I snuck away and found myself in the room where my father had shown me the map of Miarra. I turned and saw a huge crystal—and my parents suspended inside it!

I prepared to hit the orange jewel with Caylin's sword when I felt a hot hand touch my shoulder. Katriana had found me again.

"Soooo…" she began. "You really thought it would be this easy? Foolish girl."

I looked up at her as she chuckled. She now wore my father's own laurel crown.

Well, that sight was enough for me. Without a second thought, I plunged the sword into the bottom of the crystal, shattering it.

My mother and father fell to the floor, looking dazed.

My father rubbed his head. "What…"

"KATRIANA!" my mother screeched. She ran out of the room.

That seemed to bring my father to his senses. He drew his own sword and began to charge at the evil Faerie. I left in a hurry. We needed someone really powerful, like the Faerie Queen herself. Even Xandra said that she herself could not stop her, and Caylin…

Just as I thought of her the Earth Faerie went flying past me into the map room. Xandra and I raced after her, arriving just in time to see my father holding Katriana's hands behind her back. He had his crown back on.

"Xandra, Saeryennan!" Caylin said. "I need you to help contain Katriana while I…"

She didn't finish her sentence, but Xandra started to create a magical barrier around us, and I held my sword above the Faerie's wings.

Then Caylin began to sing. As she sang, vines shot up around Katriana's feet, tying her to the floor. Katriana tried to do some kind of magic, but it fizzled out. Then I got why—Caylin, like Katriana, had been born when the previous Faerie Queen was ruling…an era I knew to be full of powerful Neopets and Faeries possessed with great magical gifts. It was the era Xandra had been born into. It was such a shame that such a wonderful era of peace and magic had…faded…and I had Katriana to thank for that. It was undoubtedly her doing, trying to spread terror to every corner of Neopia from her small kingdom.

Nevertheless, Caylin had great power…and with it she was doing something very unusual. A large emerald diamond began to appear around her. Xandra, my father and I all stepped back as it became more abundant until you couldn't see Katriana at all. Then there was a flash of light and a small emerald lay in Caylin's palm.

I turned to Caylin. "You trapped her inside that jewel?"

She nodded. "Katriana won't be bothering us for a very long time."

I embraced Xandra, and then my parents. Perhaps now it was time to rebuild that old kingdom of joy; to recreate the world in Queen Miarra's image, before Katriana stole everything from her and all the rest of us. I thought about it strongly as I greeted Calissa and Nyvenne, and my father's council. Perhaps one day I could go and search for Queen Miarra. No one knew where she was, but if I found her, a new era could arise.

But that was something to think about later. Right now, it was time for revelry. Altador had been saved once again.


End file.
